Chapter 210: Tell Him That This Is Insane

POV: EVE

Eve was pacing when she heard the elevator.

She’d been awake since 4:47 AM, the exact moment Dimitri had left the bed without explanation. Business, he’d said. A temple kiss and nothing else.

That was three hours ago.

Three hours of cold coffee, unanswered texts, and the growing sense that something was very, very wrong.

Nonna was in the kitchen, pretending to prepare breakfast but actually watching Eve with that knowing expression that said she understood more than she was letting on.

"Cara," Nonna said gently. "Sit. Eat something."

"I’m not hungry," Eve said, her eyes fixed on the elevator doors.

"You’ve been pacing for an hour."

"He’s keeping something from me," Eve said. "Again."

They both remembered what it took to bring her back.

The elevator chimed.

Eve stopped pacing.

The doors opened, and Dimitri stepped out. Mike was behind him, and that....Mike being there....immediately told Eve this wasn’t a normal business meeting.

Dimitri’s eyes found hers across the room. His expression was carefully controlled, but she’d learned to read him. She saw the tension in his shoulders, the set of his jaw, the way his hands were deliberately loose at his sides instead of clenched into fists.

He was preparing for a fight.

"What happened?" Eve asked.

"We need to talk," Dimitri said quietly.

"That’s never a good start to a conversation," Eve said, her voice sharper than she intended.

Mike moved past Dimitri and nodded at Nonna. "Coffee?"

"Already made," Nonna said, handing him a cup. Her eyes went to Dimitri, then to Eve, and something passed between grandmother and grandson....some silent communication that made Nonna’s expression tighten with concern.

"Dimitri," Eve said. "What happened?"

He walked toward her slowly, deliberately, like he was approaching something fragile that might shatter.

"James transmitted," Dimitri said. "At 4:12 this morning. Full data package from inside The Covenant facility."

Eve’s stomach dropped. "Is he alive?"

"For now," Dimitri said. "He’s on day eleven of a fourteen-day protocol. His body is breaking down, but he’s still functional. He got us everything....facility layouts, personnel rosters, viral specifications, operational timeline."

"That’s good," Eve said carefully. "That’s what we needed, right?"

"Yes," Dimitri said.

"So why do you look like someone died?"

Dimitri’s jaw tightened. He glanced at Mike, who was leaning against the kitchen counter with his coffee, watching the conversation unfold with the careful attention of someone expecting an explosion.

"The Covenant accelerated their timeline," Dimitri said. "The field test deployment was supposed to be thirty days out. It’s now fourteen days. Which means we have less than two weeks to identify their deployment location, coordinate a response, and stop them from releasing a bioweapon into an urban population."

Eve processed the information. Fourteen days. Less than two weeks to stop a pandemic.

"Okay," she said slowly. "So we move faster. We work with what James gave us. We...."

"We can’t assault the facilities," Dimitri interrupted. "They’re too well-defended. Military-grade security, armed personnel, biometric access controls. A direct assault would fail, and even if it didn’t, the other facilities would disappear before we could neutralize them."

"So what’s the plan?" Eve asked.

Dimitri didn’t answer immediately. He just looked at her with those storm-gray eyes that usually made her feel safe but right now made her feel like the ground was about to disappear beneath her feet.

"Dimitri," she said, her voice harder now. "What’s the plan?"

"Infiltration," he said quietly.

"James is already inside," Eve said. "He’s gathering intelligence, right? That’s the whole point of....."

"Not James," Dimitri said. "Me."

The words dropped into the room like a grenade.

Eve stared at him. "What?"

"I’m going inside the facility," Dimitri said. "As a potential business asset. Someone The Covenant would want to recruit. I’ll have access James doesn’t have. Mobility he can’t achieve. And when the time comes, I’ll destroy the facility from within."

Eve felt the blood drain from her face.

"No," she said.

"Eve...."

"No," she repeated, her voice rising. "Absolutely not. You’re not doing that."

"It’s the only option that works," Dimitri said, his voice still calm, still controlled, like he was discussing a business transaction instead of a suicide mission.

"Then find another option," Eve said.

"There isn’t one."

"Then make one," Eve snapped. "You’re telling me that out of all your resources, all your money, all your connections, the only solution is for you to personally infiltrate a bioweapon facility?"

"Yes," Dimitri said simply.

Eve looked at Mike. "Tell him this is insane."

Mike’s expression was grim. "I already did. He’s doing it anyway."

"Then stop him," Eve said, her voice desperate now. "You’re his best friend. You’re supposed to...."

"I can’t stop him," Mike said quietly. "No one can. Once he’s made a decision like this, it’s done."

Eve turned back to Dimitri. "You saw what happened to James. His body is breaking down. He’s dying in that facility. And you want to walk into the same situation?"

"James went in as a test subject," Dimitri said. "I’m going in as a potential partner or as a scientist. Different role, different access, different outcome."

"Different outcome?" Eve’s voice was shaking now. "The outcome is you get infected with a bioweapon that has a ninety percent mortality rate. The outcome is you die in some facility in New Jersey while I’m here waiting for you to come home."

"I won’t be infected," Dimitri said. "I’ll be there as business asset, not a test subject. I’ll tour the facility, gather intelligence, identify vulnerabilities, and get out before deployment."

"You don’t know that," Eve said. "You can’t promise that. You’re asking me to let you walk into a situation where everything could go wrong and you could die."

"I’m not asking," Dimitri said quietly.

The words hit Eve like a physical blow.

"What?" she whispered.

"I’m not asking for your permission," Dimitri said, his voice gentle but absolutely firm. "I’m telling you what’s going to happen. And I’m hoping you’ll understand why it has to be this way."